| MEDIA RELEASE | Contact: David Holtz |
| Thursday, February 25, 2010 | (517) 999-3646 |
LANSING – Hundreds of love letters from Michigan residents were hand-delivered to the offices of Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop and Speaker of the House Andy Dillon today. Michiganders from across the state submitted the love notes that call on lawmakers to “Show Michigan Some Love,” prompted by citizen’s watchdog group Progress Michigan to tell lawmakers what loving Michigan really means. To view these letters go to: http://loveformichigan.com/?page_id=122.
“Michigan is hurting,” said David Holtz, Progress Michigan executive director. “After years of cuts to essential programs like schools, public safety and health care for the needy, it’s time Speaker Dillon and Majority Leader Bishop showed Michigan some love.
“We asked Michiganders to tell their lawmakers what loving Michigan really means, and they spoke loud and clear: fund education, modernize the tax code and start fixing the budget instead of bickering.”
Several hundred heart-shaped letters were delivered to both lawmakers’ offices this afternoon. The submissions ranged from poignant to outraged:
“I would love Michigan leaders to get their act together and pretend they know what love is. Or at least pretend they like us.”
“I would like to see the leaders work for the PEOPLE and less for backwards-focused interest groups.”
I would like Michigan’s leaders to show love for this State’s present and future by investing in education that is high-quality and appropriate for all of our children. Please do not cut education budgets.
“Show the people of Michigan some love. Vote to take care of those who gave you the power to do so. If you cannot do that, then resign. We need people who will take care of our needs, not your own.”
“Our leaders need to show some love for our children’s future. This means funding our public education properly, and creating new jobs in clean energy.
This also means aiding hard-working parents by providing affordable health care options.”
“The leadership in Lansing is insisting that if Michiganders want to reform our broken system and fix the woefully out of date tax code, they need to make more noise. Well, this isn’t just noise. This is the voice of the people, and they’re speaking loud and clear,” Holtz said.